I Believe in Good!

Our Story Continues • October 4, 2018

By Autumn H.

At

a young age, our morals and values are instilled upon us from parents, grandparents, friends and even teachers. As we learn, age and grow into our unique identity we create our own. I believe it’s important to have a set of values to follow. Throughout life we all come across difficult times and decisions and without a list of core values to follow, we may falter. I’ve been taught from a young age to treat others with kindness, compassion and empathy and to act with integrity in all that I do. I strive every day to make a positive impact in the lives of everyone I meet and I hope that by doing so, I can inspire others to do the same.

When you have a list of values you know who you are and how you want to act. Alongside your values it’s important to have a clear vision. A vision about where you want to be professionally, a vision for your family and for yourself personally. When you put goals in place to succeed, when you dream bigger dreams than you think you can achieve, you will live a much fuller life. Don’t get me wrong, you have to work for those dreams and goals. You can’t just say, “Hey, I think I’ll become a millionaire. I’m envisioning it, I’m dreaming about it, it’ll happen.” I hate to break it to you, but you’ve got to put in a little work to get what you want. Your vision alongside your strong set of values and hard work will ultimately get you to where you want to be.

Now, think- What’s your mission in life? Who do you want to impact? What do you stand for? These are questions I ask myself often. It’s too easy to become complacent in life when you don’t have the drive to succeed and reach your goals for reasons other than yourself. You can bring this back into the work place as well. Ask yourself, why am I here? Aside from the fact that you have bills to pay and a stomach to feed, what exactly are you hoping to accomplish? What fills your cup in the workplace? Coming to work everyday is a lot easier when you have a mission in mind and it helps when your company helps lay that foundation for you. It would be pretty boring and quite honestly depressing if your company’s mission was, “To make this company money and to fill a seat in a desk”. Yikes. No thanks, I’ll pass, I quit. How about a mission like this? “To deliver superior value through innovative lending solutions, expertise and positive experiences.” Okay, that sounds more like it. I’d much rather wake up daily with the thought in my mind that I’m here, at this desk, to make a positive impact on everyone I encounter.

I received a phone call from one of my borrowers today. He took the time out of his busy life to thank me, from the bottom of his heart for walking him through a process that can feel stressful and overwhelming. He was so appreciative and even promised to make me tamales when I’m in his home state. I don’t think he fully understands my love for food and I’m not sure I’ll ever make it to where he and his wife are. Nonetheless, it was a genuine and kind moment of gratitude. I remember his loan well. It wasn’t necessarily an easy process simply because we ran into some hiccups with the property, but we were able to help him and make it as seamless as possible on his end. His call was a humble reminder that when my job feels redundant at times, or when I feel like I’m not making a difference, I actually am. I have to remind myself that while I work with many people, each person is going through something different and though it may not feel like it at the time, I’m making a difference in each individual’s life. I’m proud of what I do and it’s not because I wake up everyday excited about interest rates. I get excited because I know the people who come to me had a vision for their family and for themselves to own a home. They’re trusting my expertise and my honesty and I get the opportunity to be a large part of an exciting time in their life.

I will leave you with this. How often do you find yourself on social media, in the grocery store or at work hearing talk about the negative happenings in the world? I hear it and see it daily. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the negativity and hardships around us. With social media larger than ever, it’s nearly impossible not to. I find myself constantly reminding myself and others there is still good in this world. In fact, I believe there is more good than bad. Imagine if everyone in the world spoke with integrity, thought with innovation and always acted with compassion. Imagine if everyone took a moment to reflect on their values so they could empower themselves and others. A pipe dream? Maybe, but I believe in good. I believe if you take one small step every day to lift others up, it’ll spread faster than you think. You never know what someone else is going through, and you never know the difference one small act of kindness can make. Take time to think about your personal mission, your values and your vision. How can you serve others in your life with those ideas in mind? How will your mission, vision and values inspire you to live your best, most fulfilled life? We can’t change the negativity around us. We can however, be innovative, we can think big and know that a small act of kindness and integrity within ourselves can make a world of difference in our own lives and the lives of those around us.